The Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival turns five in grand fashion

By Devin D. O’Leary

“It’s amazing how much we’ve grown,” marvels Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Director Roberto Appicciafoco. The festival he helped found is entering its fifth year, and a glance through the list of films and events for 2007 shows a schedule bursting at the seams. This is both a sign of good, organic growth and an indication that the folks behind the festival are throwing themselves one fabuloso birthday party.

“Kid Nation” on CBS

By Devin D. O’Leary

The controversial new reality series “Kid Nation” debuted on CBS last week to so-so ratings (second place in the timeslot behind FOX’s “Back to You”) and some speculation that advertisers had shunned the premiere. (The first 38 minutes of the pilot were aired commercial-free, though CBS execs insisted the second episode would have a “regular and full” commercial load.) Brushing aside the idea that the New Mexico Legislature might have delayed the passage of child labor laws in order to accommodate the show’s month-long shoot (a claim that still needs investigating), much of the “children in jeopardy” talk seems to have been in vain.

The Week in Sloth

Thursday 27

“Smallville” (KWBQ-19 7 p.m.) Seven seasons and Superman still refuses to wear a costume? At least producers are pumping up the comic book cameos. In tonight’s season opener, villainous alien freak Bizarro drops by for tea and crumpets (which in Bizarro World means “violence and brutality”).